Pepi Lederer

Pepi Lederer
File:PepiLederer.jpg
Born	Josephine Rose Lederer (1910-03-18)March 18, 1910 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	June 11, 1935(1935-06-11) (aged 25) Los Angeles, California, United States

Pepi Lederer (March 18, 1910 – June 11, 1935) was an American actress and writer. She was the niece of actress Marion Davies.

Early life & career

Josephine Rose Lederer was born in Chicago in 1910 and later formally adopted the name. Her mother, Reine Davies (née Douras) was a stage actress and the sister of Rosemary Davies and Marion Davies, while her father, George Lederer, produced musical comedies.

After her aunt Marion began a long-term affair with William Randolph Hearst, Hearst took responsibility for the accommodation of Pepi and her several siblings, who included Charlie Lederer, later a well-known screenwriter. She spent a good deal of her youth at Hearst Castle.

The Hearsts took the ambitions of her brother seriously and relegated Pepi to a few small parts in movies such as Her Cardboard Lover.

Increasingly restless with her stalled career and her suspicions that she was only valued by others insofar as she could initiate them into the luxurious world of the Hearst family, she moved to London.

Personal life

She returned to New York in 1930 and, shortly after New Years' Eve 1929 was shocked to discover she was pregnant, but due to complications she had the pregnancy aborted. [1] She was friends with actress Louise Brooks. Though she was considered a captivating personality, Lederer had a voracious appetite for rich food, alcohol, and eventually, cocaine. [2] Lederer was also openly bisexual within acting circles. Whether she and close friend Louise Brooks were ever involved romantically is not certain since Brooks wrote in her biography that she had affairs with two women, Greta Garbo being one and the other being unnamed. [3] Lederer was also close friends with actress Tallulah Bankhead, but whether they were involved romantically is not known for certain. [4]

Pepi Lederer is mentioned in the book Truly Wilde, a book about Dolly Wilde written by author Joan Schenkar. In that book it is indicated that Lederer was lesbian and not bisexual, despite her becoming pregnant once. [5] Louise Brooks spoke of Lederer often, and is quoted in depth in the book The Girl in the Black Helmet written by Kenneth Tynan. In that book Brooks describes Lederer in part by saying "She created a world of excitement and inspiration wherever she went." [6]

In 1935, her drug addiction worsening, Davies and Hearst committed her to a mental hospital to receive a drug cure. Shortly afterward, she jumped out of a window, dying instantly after falling several floors. She was 25.

References

• Brooks, Louise. Lulu in Hollywood: Expanded Edition, p. 33. Twin Cities: University of Minnesota Press, 2000.